This is finally an Argentine Messi

In Argentina even a few years ago, Diego Maradona was widely considered the GOAT and far more revered than Lionel Messi.

Why? Because Maradona won Argentina a World Cup and Messi hadn't even won a single trophy in their colours.

When Argentina lost the final in 2014, and then went on to lose the final in the Copa America in back-to-back years (which eventually led to Messi announcing his retirement from international football), many questioned Messi's leadership and ability.

There were questions if he was only good in a Barcelona jersey with a familiar setup and world-class players like Andreas Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets around him. 

While it is true that Messi's best years in terms of goalscoring and goal contributions came at Camp Nou under Pep Guardiola, the same setup simply wasn't there in Argentina for him to thrive in the same way.

You see, for a player that was taken by Barca's academy at the age of 16, half of Messi's life has been spent at the Catalan club and you can even argue that he could have had a World Cup by now if he had just played for Spain.

The way he sees football and the way he plays it also reflected the protagonistic ways of Johan Cruyff's philosophies at Barcelona. 

So while he was a success at his club, having won every individual and team award there is to win, for Argentina, he was Barcelona's Messi, with no trophies to show. 
But in recent times, that has started to change.

And the change started after current manager Lionel Scaloni got Messi integrated into this Argentina team.

In a system, which is not pretty or free-flowing like Barca's Juego de Posicion, but in a system that is getting the best out of their best player.

Only fittingly, an international trophy followed when Argentina won the last Copa America for Messi to break the duck with his national team and then they won the Finalissima earlier this year. 

The floodgates seemed to have opened for Messi's Argentina, or should we say Argentina's Messi.

While Argentina's changed to get the best out of Messi, Messi has also changed his game to get the best out of Argentina.

The most glaring example could be found in the match against Poland, where Messi acted like he had been shot by the goalkeeper when Wojciech Szczesny had barely laid a finger on Messi.

But that didn't matter as the referee fell for it and awarded Argentina the penalty.

While Messi went on to miss the penalty, this was something that was totally new to his repertoire.

He wasn't known to dive or playact back in his Barca days, but in Argentina, it's less about aesthetics and more about results.

That, in many ways, is exactly what Argentina has been all about from the Maradona days.

Think back to the Hand of God, and you see a player in a team willing to do whatever it takes to win - from using the dark arts to individual moments of otherworldly brilliance - that was Maradona, and that epitomised Argentina.

Messi may not be the loudest in the room but he is a leader, and the speech he gave ahead of the Copa America final, which Argentina won, showed exactly that. 

"We had an objective and we're one step away from achieving it and the best thing about it is it's in our hands."

"So, we're going to go out there and lift the trophy, we're going to take it home to Argentina and enjoy it with our family, friends with everyone that has supported Argentina."

"And I want to finish with this: Coincidences don't exist. This tournament had to be played in Argentina and do you know why? Because God brought it here so we win here in the Maracana for all of us. So let's go out there with confidence, with cool heads, and let's win this trophy. Come on boys!"

Riveting words which inspired his team to victory as for the first time, Argentina accepted Messi as their own with the trophy draught over, the curse lifted. 

After the loss against Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Messi regrouped and got better with every game, and now find themselves one win away from the ultimate prize. 

Argentina and Messi know, this is the one thing that he, his team and his people need to end all debates, to be universally accepted and loved as the one true GOAT.